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Novotel announce EarthCheck progress

Very interesting news from Novotel, who issued the following press release earlier this month, on how they are progressing with EarthCheck. For those of you who don’t remember, EarthCheck is quite a unique concept in that this is the first worldwide sustainablity certification for the travel industry (fomally Green Globe).

Press Release (Accor)

Novotel’s traditional certification organization is changing its name and Accor’s midscale hotel brand is taking advantage of the occasion to reaffirm its goal of obtaining environmental and social certification for all of the more than 400 hotels in its network by the end of 2012. At present, 78 hotels in 18 countries have already been certified and an additional 104 hotels have embarked on the project.

EarthCheck, known as Green Globe until 2009, is the first worldwide certification program developed especially for the tourist industry. Its rigorous, disciplined process is based on the notion of continuous improvement and requires a powerful commitment on the part of hotel teams. Certification is awarded only after a preliminary assessment of the hotel’s performance and the deployment of an appropriate management system covering eight areas: implementation of a sustainable development policy, water use, energy use, waste management, paper consumption, use of pesticides, use of cleaning and sanitation products, and commitments to the local community. At least ten months are required for a hotel to receive certification, which is awarded by an independent outside auditor. This long-term performance process is audited and re-evaluated every two years.

“Since 2008, Novotel teams have been actively involved in the EarthCheck certification program so that we can meet our goal of certifying the entire network by 2012,” says Pierre Lagrange, Global Marketing Novotel Director. “Novotel’s commitment to the principles of sustainable development is an integral part of the brand’s promise of customer well-being.”

In addition to its 182 hotels already involved in the EarthCheck certification process, Novotel’s commitment to sustainable development has also enabled the network to achieve the following results as of year-end 2010:

– 98% of hotels apply and monitor the 65 actions in the Accor Hotel Environment Charter.

2 thoughts on “Novotel announce EarthCheck progress”

Hi Paul,
The problem is that there is currently know sustainablity auditor/company who is recognised in every country. Yes, there are standards set out by people such as EarthCheck, but to a lot of countries, they mean nothing. It’s certainly an area we will hear more and more about, and I am sure more organisations like EarthCheck will arrive. There is also one I know if called Travelife, who TUI Travel work with. Together with Travelife, a lot of sustanable auditing is done with it’s properties, and results publushed in brochures with a Bronze, Silver and Gold award system used.
Cheers, Simon – Editor of Hotel Insight